BAC September Engineering Meeting

I’m BAC! I was out of town for most of the summer but I was excited to be able to attend the Bicycle Advisory subcommittee meeting this September. Unfortunately, I was gone too long as I mixed up the times and missed the meeting entirely. So this post is compiled with the help of the meeting minutes. I hope to do better next month.

On the Docket:

Broadway Street NE Reconstruction

Portland and Cedar Avenue Bridge Renovations

Calhoun-Harriet Access Improvement Project

Anderson School Bike and Pedestrian Improvements

Broadway Street NE

The City is gathering input on the layout of a street reconstruction of Broadway St NE from Stinson Blvd NE to Industrial Blvd NE. The designs and layout will be finalized in 2017 and construction will be in 2018. Full reconstructions are often because of the overall street condition and age. The process allows considerable advantages to implement effective bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Though this stretch of Broadway is not considered a pedestrian priority corridor, there will be sidewalk improvements. The major change is a road diet that converts the 4 lane road to 3 lanes in which the middle lane will be a mixture of medians and turn lanes. They have designed a multi-use trail to run adjacent to the south side of the street that conforms to current design standards and will accommodate current and projected bike traffic. Lastly, there will be a sidewalk running along the north side of the street. Considerations will have to be made for the two thousand trucks that traverse the street daily but this will be an improvement from the current bike and pedestrian environment. This project will also allow for more vegetation/greening that could create better stormwater management. The Subcommittee approved the project as proposed.

Portland and Cedar Bridges

The two bridges spanning over the Midtown Greenway are slotted for renovations/ reconstructions in 2017. Final designs are being worked out by Hennepin County with the help of consultants now, hoping for final approval in November. Current plans for the Portland bridge illustrate two car lanes and a buffered bike lane. The Subcommittee recommended they make the center car lane a bit narrower than designed and make the bike lane buffer larger. Portland converts to three cars lanes and a non-buffered bike lane south of the bridge but the Subcommittee would like the bridge design to continue to Lake Street. The Cedar bridge will be made wider to reflect some possible changes along the corridor and will will likely be striped with a ten foot and an eleven foot car lane on both sides of traffic. There will be temporary closures on the Midtown Greenway and so Public Works will look into detour possibilities. The Subcommittee supported the designs with the aforementioned conditions along Portland.

Calhoun-Harriet Access Project

This project is part of the larger Calhoun-Harriet Master Plan which includes several improvements planned for the next few decades. The Trail and Access Improvements are planned for 2017 in order to take advantage of funds that expire in mid-2018. The project will consist of trail rehabilitation around the lakes, as well as flow and sign improvements for bicycle and pedestrian access. Take a look at the Project Map for more details on what areas are being rehabilitated. The access improvements are planned for northeast Calhoun, by Lake Street and East Calhoun Parkway, and for southeast Harriet where the lake connect to Minnehaha Creek. There are public open houses about the project in the next two months. The first of two is tomorrow (!!), Tuesday October 4th from 6 to 8pm at the Lyndale Farmstead. The second meeting is Wednesday, November 9th (the day of Election Day...) at the same time and place. Attend these meeting to find out more about what is planned to improve access and to provide feedback on the project. You can also sign up for updates and provide feedback to the project manager on the Project Website. There was no action taken by the Subcommittee as only discussion was requested. You should expect to see more detailed designs after November.

Andersen School Bike/Ped Improvements

The City is designing better bike and pedestrian access to the Andersen School in the Phillips neighborhood as part of their Safe Routes to Schools initiative. The designs plan for better pedestrian crossings along E 26th Street and 10th Avenue S, around the block of the school. Secondly, there will be an off-street bike trail along 12th Avenue S that connects to 11th Avenue S by the way of E 28th Street. This will create better connection to the Midtown Greenway, for both the school, the adjacent hospital campuses and the neighborhood. The bike trail will ramp down at street and pedestrian crossings and so the Subcommittee advocated for minimal grade changes along the trail. They suggested a tiered trail height that meets halfway between the intersecting path heights. The City is looking for layout approval this month. The Subcommittee moved to approve the design with the request for minimal grade changes.

The Subcommittee meetings are open to the public, and occur every third Tuesday of the month, 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Colonial Warehouse Building, 212 3rd Ave N, Suite 404. If you will be attending a future meeting or have questions or you are interested in being included on the email list for the subcommittee, which includes updates on meeting dates and agendas for each meeting, contact Kurt Wayne, the committee staff member.